I had never heard of the Lynne Arriale Trio prior to a show at the Dakota in Minneapolis about five years ago. I promptly went out and bought every CD I could find, which at that time included maybe six artfully crafted, low profile recordings. Now with more than a decade of collaboration, the Lynne Arriale Trio celebrates its tenth release with Live (on Motema Music’s In & Out Records), recorded during Burghausen Jazz Week in spring 2005. One can only hope that the enthusiasm of this German audience will prompt a similar reception on this side of the Atlantic, where the trio remains far less visible despite individual and collective talents that easily compare favorably to the perennial high flyers (Jarrett, Mehdlau, Moran, Charlap), and perhaps even more so to the critically acclaimed (if also less familiar) ensembles of Fred Hersch and Kenny Werner.

Over the past decade, critical jazz audiences have experienced the evolution of Lynne Arriale as one of the most elegant and spirited voices of jazz piano, her style marked by exquisite melodies, deceptively simple lines, and “flawless touch, an impeccable sense of complex rhythms and a harmonic curiosity” (Jazz Times). A classical piano graduate of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music before turning to jazz “late” (in her mid 20s), Arriale got her first break subbing for Marian McPartland in the 1991 “100 Golden Fingers" tour of Japan, where she performed with piano legends Hank Jones, Tommy Flanagan, Kenny Barron, Cedar Walton, and Monty Alexander; she went on to win first place in the 1993 Great American Jazz Piano Competition. Since her first release in 1994 (The Eyes Have It, DMP), Arriale has concentrated exclusively on her piano trio. Bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Steve Davis have been her collaborators for much of the past ten years (including that debut CD)—Davis in fact has been her timekeeper on every recording. And together, this threesome has produced some of the most elegantly accessible yet sophisticated music of any small jazz ensemble working today. Their last release, Come Together, was a celebration of their ten years of collaboration, yet until now they had only made one live recording, 1999’s acclaimed Live at Montreux (TCB).

Simply titled Live, this is an attractive CD/DVD package where both parts serve the music and the audience well. The CD itself features 68 minutes of inspired live music. While each selection appears on other recordings from the trio, only “Seven Steps to Heaven” and the DVD bonus, “Alone Together” were previously recorded live (Live at Montreux). This set verifies that jazz is indeed a living, evolving genre as the trio puts new spins on four of Arriale’s most arresting compositions (“Home,” “Flamenco,” “Arise,” “Braziliana”) and offers personalized reinventions of jazz classics like “Bemsha Swing” and “Seven Steps to Heaven.” The DVD is far more than a video version of the audio recording (although that by itself is worthwhile); also included is an informative 14+ -minute interview and the 25-minute PBS documentary, “Profile of a Performing Artist,” which includes live footage and commentary from Arriale about the art of improvisation and more.

Live recordings often offer extended explorations relative to their studio counterparts, which is true for many of the CD tracks. Overall there is a bluesy flavor, more so than on previous outings. As strong as have been the studio recordings, both live releases—Montreux and now Burghausen—are electrifying, and these newer efforts reflect an even higher level of inventive partnership. Notes Arriale on the PBS documentary, in live performance “we are sending a particular energy out to that audience through sound.” Listening at home is certainly not the same as being there in the moment, but Live comes close, well-preserving those moments and allowing the listener to sense that energy and connection between three musicians and the audience.

Live starts with the traditional “Iko Iko,” first heard on the 2004 release Come Together. As on the earlier recording, the focus is on the rhythmic shifts among all three musicians, here given a bit more of a bluesy tinge. Davis is downright snarly with his rolls on the snare, clattering rimshots and cymbal rattles. Arriale deconstructs with long lines that are alternately fluid and sinewy, and Anderson is subtle but ever-present, taking a dark, popping solo midway that yields to a slowly evolving exhibition of quirky restraint from Davis. The trio beats a slow retreat through the head to the final, humorously quiet note.

Arriale’s “Home” is one of my favorites among her compositions. A standout on Come Together, it is a testament to the beauty of a single line and Arriale’s emphasis on melody—what Arriale describes on the PBS documentary as “the intangible quality of finding the beautiful notes.” Jay Anderson provides a heart tugging, longing tone (especially on his solo—coming much earlier, at about 1 minute in, than on the studio rendition, where it falls in the more traditional midsection), while Davis adds a distant shimmer. This time out, Arriale considers some new, albeit subtle, plot turns (“little short stories,” as she describes her songs). It remains one of the most engaging compositions in her discography.

Another Arriale penned tune, “Braziliana” starts with strong statements from the piano while both Anderson and Davis stake their claim to a robust pulse. Relative to its recorded debut on Come Together, the tune seems less infused with samba once it moves beyond the core melody, more American post bop with its smoother rhythm and spiraling explorations, and with more bass counterpoint from Anderson. Arriale weaves some heavy textures via her left handed comping while the right hand takes on a more Tyneresque complexity. Davis launches a marvelous percussion solo over Anderson’s thick hollow tones, suggesting hands on skins (but the DVD verifies he’s using the sticks). More stretched out than the studio version, “Braziliana” prompts an enthusiastic response from the crowd.

Jay Anderson

The title track of the 2003 release, Arriale’s “Arise” was written in the wake of 9/11. A modern hymn of gratitude for the rescue effort (“to recovery, renewal and regeneration,” says Arriale), the focus is on the melodic lines from the piano; the contributions of bass and drums are appropriately supportive and unobtrusive. The title track from their anniversary album, Lennon and McCartney’s “Come Together” is played with a slower meter here, and its repeating phrases and dramatic basslines give it a more sinister feel from the first bar. Darker than the Fab Four’s original conception, the track features heavy syncopation and hesitations that give it a quirkier, blusier feel than on the studio outing. With the best of threesome interplay, this arrangement features a bass solo from Anderson that accentuates the rhythmic edge and dark colors; Davis takes a turn where sticks and rims are his primary weapons.

Back to an Arriale original, “Flamenco” is a majestic, sweeping composition recalling the great folk dancers of Andulsia with hints of Ravel and Granados. Arriale notes using visualization of flamenco dancers and the “passionate swirling of their movements” in composing this piece, and indeed the trio evokes such images with her spiraling lines, tremulous bass (echoed by Anderson) and Davis’ shimmering staccato percussion. Lynne’s classical background is ever-present in her elegant runs and crystalline recessions.

Victor Feldman and Miles Davis’ “Seven Steps to Heaven” was first presented by the trio on Live at Montreux (1999). Adding an additional two minutes of sonic exchange, here the pace is also a bit faster. Despite the general staccato foundation, Arriale uses some sliding legato phrases, a more shifty rhythm and more abstract improvisation once the trio dispenses with the head; Anderson counters all the way with a sturdy pulse. In Montreux, this tune took a more straight post bop direction, more burning than twisting. The arrangement still belongs to Steve Davis, but it all seems to have progressed to a new level, residing in a different galaxy of invention. Davis’ solo evolves in both tempo and complexity over its 90-second run, and the theme returns with an elongated vamp. Miles would smile.

A personal favorite from Inspiration (2001, TCB), Abdullah Ibrahim’s “Mountain of the Night” is, in Arriale’s words, “a heartfelt tune which creates a feeling of peace, serenity and tranquility.” By far the longest track at over eleven minutes, the trio has plenty of time to work its way around a gorgeous melody. After about three minutes, it takes a bluesy, soulful turn with heavier syncopation (enhanced by Davis’ hand percussion) and a vampish bassline, like a slow meander through the Everglades. On this performance, Arriale sounds closer to Jarrett than ever, exploring ideas in full, informed but not enslaved by blues forms. There were certainly hints of this spirit on the earlier recording but the ideas seem more fully developed in this later, live performance.

Steve Davis

Also appearing earlier on Inspiration, Monk’s classic of quirkiness, “Bemsha Swing,” here reflects a somewhat different approach to the rhythmic possibilities. From the first note, Lynne turns the tune on its ear, melodically as well as rhythmically, an abstract rendering of a work that lends itself to divergent exploration. Clearly the trio is having fun with their closing tune, and everyone has a hand in developing the musical puns, perhaps none more effectively than Jay Anderson. Monk is a ready target for a creative bassist with a sense of humor!

The DVD is a treasure chest in its own right. As clean and clear as is the audio track, this music takes on more depth when seen as well as heard. Although the sound alone suggests the grace and telepathy that are trademarks of the Lynne Arriale Trio, watching their interaction and the choreography of their movements in sync with sound truly recreates the live experience. Further, the Dietz and Schwartz classic Alone Together is only included on the DVD. Taken at a faster clip than usual, the tune as reconstructed here has more forward drive. With video, one can see Arriale’s silent vocalization will the notes to sing (“I sing internally when I perform”); you can see as well as hear the acrobatic finesse of Steve Davis as he holds a conversation between skins and cymbals, using his hands as his most direct means of attack.

The interview with Woody Schmitt provides a good introduction to Lynne Arriale’s background and musical philosophy. After years of classical training, jazz was merely “a passing thought” when, in her mid-20s, she decided to give it a try and was surprised to learn that jazz involved improvisation, “that we play the melody first and then make up new melodies after that.” Today she still works on Chopin etudes but her real focus is on the trio and composition-- “finding just the right notes at the right time.” And always the connection to the audience is paramount. “That’s what the audience remembers—great melodies….material that works when we take away the lyrics.” These statements are reinforced by the PBS documentary (“Profile of a Performing Artist”) that effectively intersperses Arriale’s commentary with clips from live performances. She shares thoughts on the logic of improvisation (“When improvising, we want it to be that there could be no other note that would come next”), the trio’s interplay (“We are in the moment, at any second we can turn on a dime and go in another direction”), and the importance of the audience to that interaction (“We are sending a particular energy out to that audience through sound”).

Regarding live performances of the Lynne Arriale Trio, critic Bob Blumenthal once noted that the ensemble is "one of the most empathetic threesomes in jazz," having "a shared metabolism.” Arriale herself notes that, “When you experience life together as we do, the musical connection just naturally deepens over time. It allows us to be continually spontaneous, and the audiences really pick up on our excitement of always being on the edge." What distinguishes Live in an already distinguished discography is the trio’s ability to project a quality of introspection alongside an openness to rhythmic and melodic risk taking, that “excitement of always being on the edge” that not only delighted an audience in Germany one night, but also the hearts and ears of those listening to the CD or watching the DVD. Gratefully, we can hit the "replay" button over and over.

“There's nothing more important to me than connecting with the audience. That is ultimately why we play…” –Lynne Arriale

Live (In & Out Records, 2006) will be officially released on October 17^th. Visit www.lynnearriale.com for full bio and itinerary.

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